Climbing and Outdoor News from Here and Abroad - 2/16/17

Northwest:

--ABC 6 is reporting that, "a Wyoming man has died after being buried by an eastern Idaho avalanche. According to the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office, at about 11:40 a.m., Thursday, BCSO deputies along with Lincoln County Wyoming Search and Rescue, and a crew from Air Idaho Rescue responded to a report of an injured man caught in an avalanche while riding his snowmobile." To read more, click here.

Leif Whittaker

--AAI guide and company manager Jason Martin will be interviewing Leif Whitaker about his new book, My Old Man and the Mountain on Chuckanut Radio Hour. Leif is the son of Jim Whittaker, the first American to summit Mt. Everest. Leif's book chronicles a climb of Mt. Everest, following his father's footsteps. To read more, click here.

Sierra:

--There has been a major rockfall event on the Whitney Portal Road. To read more, click here.

--Lake Tahoe News is reporting that, "Highway 50 in the Kyburz area will remain closed indefinitely due to multiple mudslides. This means the main route between the South Shore and Placerville is off limits at least as a thoroughfare. It is possible to access some points along the route from each direction. For example, Sierra-at-Tahoe is open. Crews are working on three significant slides in a 12-mile area along the American River Canyon, along with other minor slides." To read more, click here.

Desert Southwest:

--Red Rock Rendezvous is a world-class climbing event. There will be climbing instruction, competitions, slideshows, games and parties. This is one event that just gets better every year. AAI guides will be there to support the event and will be available for guided climbs or instructional programs both before and after the Red Rock Rendezvous. To learn more, click here.

Colorado:

--CBS News is reporting that, "Three backcountry skiers were caught in an avalanche in Colorado’s Garfield County on Tuesday afternoon, CBS Denver reports. One did not survive and one skier escaped and was able to get help. A search for a third skier continues." To read more, click here.

--The Aspen Times is reporting that, "Colorado experienced its fourth skier fatality of the 2016-17 season when 26-year-old Ricardo Cohen died at Breckenridge Ski Resort on Friday, Feb. 10." To read more, click here.

--News Channel 13 is reporting that, "A climber at Garden of the Gods who fell 15 feet had to be rescued on Sunday afternoon.Rescue crews told KRDO NewsChannel 13 that when they arrived, the climber was wedged in between a rock, which he had stopped his fall." To read more, click here.

--The Denver Post is reporting that, "As the outdoor industry leans on Utah, promising to yank the lucrative Outdoor Retailer trade shows out of Salt Lake City if the state’s leaders don’t abandon what industry captains call an “attack on the sanctity of public lands,” Denver is ramping up efforts to establish Colorado as the nation’s public-lands-loving epicenter for all things outdoors." To read more, click here.

Notes from All Over:

--A 46-year old woman was killed after a collision with a snowboarder at Mohawk Mountain in Connecticut. To read about the fatality, click here.
--Matthew Horner, and ice guide on the East Coast, was seriously injured in a fall on February 8th. A Go Fund Me site has been set-up to help with his recovery. To read more and to donate, click here.

--The Times Union is reporting that, "A 58-year-old expert skier was killed after striking several trees on a double black diamond trail on Hunter Mountain Ski Center Wednesday morning, State Police at Catskill said." Hunter Mountain is in New York State. To read more, click here.

--Snow Brains is reporting that, "a 60-year-old German tourist died in a tree well incident in Alberta Canyon while heli-skiing near Revelstoke, B.C. on Friday. The incident happened on the last run of the day yesterday at 2:30pm. When the heli-skiing group got to the bottom of the run, one man was missing. Canadian police report that the guides were able to quickly locate the man who was found face down in a tree well." To read more, click here.

--A snowboarder was killed after ducking the ropes at Killington in Vermont. It appears that he collided with a tree. To read more, click here.

--The Access Fund is reporting that, "New Hampshire climbers and conservation groups are organizing to oppose the construction of a proposed 25,000 square foot hotel in the fragile alpine zone of Mount Washington in the White Mountains of New Hampshire." To read more, click here.

--The Men's Journal is reporting that, "Congress is racing to nullify an Obama-era order (the Bureau of Land Management's "Planning 2.0 rule") that gave hikers, bikers, hunters, fishers, and other outdoor recreation fans an equal voice with drillers, ranchers, loggers, and other industries in how the government manages over 250 million acres of federal lands. The House and Senate are getting rid of the rule under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which allows members of Congress to vote on "resolutions of disapproval" during the initial 60 days after an agency publishes the new rule. Striking it this way also allows Congress to do it without public input, and it forbids the agency from revisiting or improving the rule in the future. Since the beginning of the year, the GOP majority in Congress has used the CRA to eradicate Obama administration rules barring the dumping of coal waste into streams, sales of guns to people with mental health disorders, methane leaks and flaring by oil and gas drilling operations on public lands, and payments to either the U.S. or foreign governments for the rights to extract oil, natural gas, or minerals." To read more, click here.